What Closet Are You In?

All a closet is, is a hard conversation. And although our topics may vary tremendously, the experience of being in, and coming out of, the closet is universal. It is scary, and we hate it, and it needs to be done.–Ash Beckham

I am not normally a Facebook person. I don’t tend to follow Facebook trends, or participate in Facebook challenges–wasn’t there something about a giraffe? I can barely keep up with cute pictures of my nephews. But my mother-in-law recently sent me the link to this video by comedienne Ash Beckham. And I am so grateful that she did. Because the video (of a TEDx talk done in Boulder) was amazing. Ash Beckham covered topics that I talk about with clients every day. She talked about difficult conversations, she “geeked out” about stress and neuroscience. And she had a great story about pancakes too.

Hard is not relative. Hard is hard . . . there is no harder, there is just hard. We need to stop ranking our hard against everyone else’s hard to make us feel better or worse about our closets and just commiserate that we all have hard. –Ash Beckham

So, for today’s post, I am sharing her video. It’s only about ten minutes long, and I promise, not only will you smile or laugh a few times (see Wednesday’s post on self-care for why that’s a win), but you may rethink your own definition of closets.

You may also have the courage to set down your grenade (really, you should watch the video), take a few deep breaths, and open some of the closet doors that have been constricting your life.

Not sure how to do it? Here are the guidelines Ash Beckham offers:

Be authentic.

Be direct.

Be unapologetic.

Do you have a guideline for having hard conversations, for opening those closet doors? Please share.